


Mischief And Magic - Throne Of Glass/Hogwarts AU

by AelinGalathynius27



Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Alternate Universe - Magic, Angst, F/M, Hogwarts, Mentions of Lyria, Multi, Quidditch, fireheart - Freeform, mentions of Sam - Freeform, rowaelin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:21:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 11,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26428543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AelinGalathynius27/pseuds/AelinGalathynius27
Summary: "He took up all the air in the room and god!- she hated it."Attending her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Aelin Ashryver Galathynius is ready to conquer the wizarding world, finding friends and foes along the way. It would all be easy, if it weren't for a certain silver-haired third-year and his friends.Note - this may not stick to all the normal canon ships for Throne of Glass, just because we need some more representation in the series. If you don't like it I'm sorry!
Relationships: Aedion Ashryver/Lysandra, Aelin Ashryver Galathynius | Celaena Sardothien & Rowan Whitethorn, Connall/Vaughan (Throne of Glass), Elide Lochan & Lorcan Salvaterre, Fenrys/Dorian Havilliard, Ress / Luca (Throne of Glass)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 54





	1. Rocky Start

**Author's Note:**

> Please Enjoy!

Aelin’s POV -

Arriving at Platform 9 3/4, Aelin couldn’t believe that the day had finally come. Ever since Aedion got his letter two years ago, Aelin had been dreaming about going to Hogwarts, counting down the days until her letter would arrive. It had been 3 years since her parents’ death and Aelin was grateful that she had Aedion by her side to help her through this next part of her life, as without her parents by her side, Aelin had to admit that she was nervous. Her mother and father had both been to Hogwarts and the thought of entering a school filled with memories of her late parents scared her immensely.

“Aelin hurry up!” Aedion yelled. “The train will be leaving soon and I need to find Ren!”

Ren Allsbrook was Aedion’s best friend at Hogwarts and the two were constantly getting into all sorts of mischief. Aelin liked Ren, although sometimes she found him annoying and him and Aedion were always using the fact that they were two years older to win arguments or prove why she couldn’t do certain things with them. That would all change now that she was at Hogwarts though; this was her chance to establish herself and not just be ‘Aedion’s little cousin’, but Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, a bright young witch, set to take on the world. Yeah it was a little cheesy, but hey, it was true!

“Coming Aedion, yeesh!” Aelin mumbled, before hauling over her bags and attempting to find Aedion in the crowd.

It was just at that moment that a figure crashed into Aelin, knocking her stuff out of her hands and throwing her onto the floor. Aelin looked up to see a tall, handsome boy before her, with silver short-cut hair and piercing, emerald-green eyes, glaring down at her.

Aelin was about to apologise for not looking where she was going, but one look at the the sneer on the boy’s face made her swallow her apology, instead opting for a single raises eyebrow and a challenging stare. Something about this boy got on her nerves and although she couldn’t exactly pinpoint what it was about him that she didn’t like, she knew that nothing good would come out of this encounter.

“Watch it first year”, the boy snarled before kicking one of her books that had fallen on his foot away and storming off towards the train.

Whoever that wizard was, he’d better hope that he never encountered Aelin again, because she was already looking forward to learning a thing or two about hexes. If they ever met again, she decided that he would be her test subject, whether he liked it or not.


	2. New Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aelin makes some new friends (and enemies) on the train journey to hogwarts.

Aelin’s POV -

After the encounter with that angry older boy, Aelin was in a hurry to get onto the train. After finding Aedion, the two of them succeeded in loading their luggage onto the train before finding a spot to store it.

“I’m up front with Ren and the other Gryffindors Aelin, so I’ll see you later but have fun” yelled Aedion, before sprinting off down the train. Typical.

It was just at that moment that Aelin noticed a small girl with dark hair and dark brown eyes struggling to get her bags onto the train and rushed over to help her. After a few minutes of trying they managed to load and store all the girl’s bags, leaving only her and her pet owl behind. 

“Thank you so much”, said the girl. “I’m Elide. Are you starting your first year at Hogwarts as well?”

“Yeah, I have an older cousin who is in the third year, but this is my first year here!” Exclaimed Aelin. This girl before her seemed to almost radiate energy and Aelin was automatically drawn to her. “I grew up with my cousin in the muggle world, but I’ve waited years to come to hogwarts. I can’t believe that the day is finally here! Would you like to sit with me? I don’t know anyone else here and it would be nice to make a friend.”

“Sure!” Elide said, and the two of them began to walk down the train to find seats. They found an empty carriage in the end, sitting down just for two other first-years to arrive, sitting beside them. One had long, dark hair and bright green eyes, whilst the other was tanned, with golden brown hair that flowed down her back.

“Hi! My name’s Lysandra and this here is Yrene. Are these seats taken??”, the one with green eyes said. 

“Hey! I’m Aelin and this is Elide! You’re welcome to sit here, there’s nobody else sitting there”, said Aelin, standing up so that one of the two girls could slide into the seat next to her, Elide doing the same opposite. Just then a group of older boys walked past, six in total, with the tallest boy at the front with dark hair and a nasty grin hooking his leg behind Aelin’s and tripping her up, sending her falling to the floor. Aelin looked up hissing at the boy, only for him to laugh at her and walk on, leaving the five boys behind him. Aelin immediately recognised the boy behind him, with his silver hair and sharp eyes. The boy from earlier on the platform only stared down at her blankly before the corners of his mouth uplifted in a small, cruel smile before walking on, along with the rest of his friends. The last boy, with golden hair eerily similar to Aedion’s looked down at her with a sad smile, offering her a hand to get up.

“Gavriel!” yelled the silver-haired boy, causing the other boy to remove his offer and carry on walking, looking back at her with an apologetic grimace. 


	3. Journey To Hogwarts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Aelin’s run-in with a mysterious third-year, she gets ready to arrive at hogwarts.

Aelin’s POV -

“Drama already Aelin?!” question Yrene whilst the other two girls helped Aelin up and back into her seat. 

“Not really,” Aelin explained, “I bumped into the boy with silver hair earlier and he was rude, but apart from that I don’t know them.” Aelin bent down to pick up the cage with her owl in checking to make sure that she hadn’t been hurt in the process. 

“Woah you have an owl?!” Lysandra said. 

“Yeah actually. I have a dog, Fleetfoot, back at home but I obviously couldn’t bring her with us, so I decided to get an owl instead to bring along with me. This is Merlin” she gestured to the screech owl next to her.

Over the next few hours of the train journey, Aelin learnt a lot about her new friends. Yrene was from a town called Fenharrow and was excited to learn all about Herbology and Charms. Elide was also looking forward to charms and was excited to go to Hogwarts as she spent all her time at home with her Uncle, who was apparently horrible. Lysandra was excited for transfiguration and was eager to watch quidditch matches and cheer for her house. 

“What house do you think you’ll be in?” Lysandra asked Aelin. 

“I don’t know actually, my mother was a Gryffindor and my father a Hufflepuff, so I guess I’m more likely to be in one of those two?? Probably Gryffindor though as my cousin Aedion’s in it and we’re very alike.” 

“Who are you parents again?” Elide questioned.

“Evalin and Rhoe Galathynius” said Aelin.

Yrene, Elide and Lysandra all looked at her like she had declared she had seen a ghost, all staring at her with looks of varying shock.

After finally regaining control of her jaw and easing out of a gape, Yrene collected herself enough to ask “you’re Aelin  Galathynius?!? As in Rhoe Galathynius’ daughter?” 

“....yes?”

The three girls continued to look at her in disbelief before answering when Aelin asked what was so significant about her father.

“Rhoe Galathynius was known for being one of the greatest wizards of his generation Aelin! He passed his O.W.L.S’s and N.E.W.T’s with incredible grades and was offered all kinds of jobs at the Ministry of Magic, being known for being one of the only muggle born wizards to work so high up in the ministry. Him and Evalin were high school sweethearts, growing up together at hogwarts and then having you. They were known for being an extremely powerful couple, again standing out because they were both muggles, although your mother’s mother was a witch. However they made many enemies along the way, solely for the fact that they weren’t from great wizard families. Others were threatened by their power, especially Maeve, the Minister of Magic at the time, who was rumoured to have been the one to organise thei-“

“I know what happened next” Aelin said quietly but not weakly.

“Did you not know anything about your parents?” Elide asked softly.

“They died when I was very young and I was brought up by my aunt and Aedion, so I never really got to spend much time with them. Aedion told me bits about them, but not enough to make me upset, which was not very much” Aelin admitted.

“I’m sorry” Yrene whispered.

“Hey it’s okay, you guys didn’t know. Besides this is why I came to Hogwarts, to create my own legacy and learn more about my parents in the place they met and held so dear.”

“Look! I can see hogwarts!” 

“We’d better go change so that we are ready when we arrive.”

With that all four girls grabbed their bags and ran off, pulling on their robes and talking excitedly about what they thought Hogwarts would be like.


	4. Legacy?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Aelin makes her way to hogwarts, she begins to question what she really knew about her parent’s legacy, and who she is expected to be.

Aelin’s POV - 

Yrene, Lysandra, Elide and Aelin all hopped off the train as soon as it pulled up to Hogwarts, all making their way along with the other first-year students towards a large lake and a cluster of small boats near the edge. Aelin’s new friends all ended up being led to a boat with a small blonde girl, leaving Aelin to try and find a spare boat to go in.

Soon after, she found herself being helped into a boat along with three other boys, all staring excitedly at her. The tallest one with dark hair and crystal blue eyes jutted out a hand and said in a bright, jovial voice “Dorian, nice to meet you! Who are you? It’s great to meet you! I can’t wait to get to Hogwarts it’s going to be great!!”

Aelin held back a surprised laugh at the boy’s sudden burst of question, but managed to hold her laughter in, composing herself before 

answering “Aelin. I’m looking forward to getting there too - I don’t know what I’m most excited about.”

“The sorting ceremony for me” one of the other two boys, Ress, piped up. “I just know I’ll be a Gryffindor, just like my father was and then I can help lead my house to victory in quidditch and house points and everything else!”

“I think I’ll be in Ravenclaw” exclaimed Dorian. “Like you said, my father was there too and he and I are very similar.”

The last boy Luca said “Hufflepuff for me; I don’t know why but I just think that it suits me best!”

“You’re a Galathynius right?” questioned Dorian. “I think you’ll be a Gryffindor Aelin, since your mother was and also your cousin Aedion. You two seem similar - I met him earlier and he’s just like you!” 

“I guess” Aelin murmured. She didn’t know why, but she was getting quite sick of people always linking her to her family. She was proud of their accomplishments and loved them dearly yes, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that it was their life that she was living, not her’s. Her cousin had also predicted that she would be in Gryffindor. His reasoning was:

  * Although she was kind and loyal, she valued other qualities more and therefore could not be a Hufflepuff
  * Ravenclaw didn’t fit because she didn’t prioritise knowledge in any way, despite being very smart
  * There was no such thing as a muggle Slytherin
  * Finally Gryffindor would fit her competitive streak and help her just like it did him.



Aelin supposed it made sense, but even then she felt that his decision made her more uncomfortable. What if she didn’t go to Gryffindor? What if she was Ravenclaw instead? What if she couldn’t be sorted and the sorting hat didn’t make up its mind? What if—

Aelin was pulled from her thoughts by the boat hitting the edge of the land again, having crossed the lake and leading them directly under the castle. All the students were led out from the lake and into a small corridor, just off of the great hall. Aelin was excited yet terrified and had to meet up with Yrene, Lysandra and Elide, who calmed her down and assured her that it would be fine. They all agreed that whatever houses they went to, they would all meet up in between classes and in the common rooms so that they could catch up. 

They were then once again led from where they were, only this time into the great hall and up towards the teachers table, being told to line up in the order they were given, ready to be sorted. Aelin wasn’t sure how they had come up with the order, but she wasn’t happy with it. All her new friends, including the boys, were up front whereas she was going last. 

Just like that, the ceremony started. 


	5. Muggle Born

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ceremony begins.

Aelin’s POV - 

Aelin had never been more scared in her life. She didn’t know exactly why, but she has a sneaking suspicion that this ceremony would not go as expected. In an effort to calm her nerves, Aelin turned her attention towards the sorting ceremony, which had just begun.

“Lysandra Ennar!” the professor at the front of the queue called. Lysandra walked confidently towards the stool, sitting down and waiting as the sorting hat was lowered onto her head. She sat there for a few seconds before the sorting hat called out “Slytherin!” and she jumped off, walking towards the far table, who had erupted into cheers. She looked like she had expected this outcome, and the sorting hat had taken barely any time in sorting her, clearly making up its mind very quickly.

“Rompier, Kaltain!” A small girl with dark flowing hair stepped up, sitting on the stool for quite some time before eventually being pronounced a “Ravenclaw” and walking towards her new house.

Next was Dorian who stepped up, almost jumping with excitement and flinging himself onto the stool. Dorian, as predicted, was announced a Ravenclaw, taking far less time than Kaltain. It was then apparent that the quicker you were sorted, the more obvious your house clearly was to the sorting hat.

At this point, Aelin began to zone out, only hearing a select few names, most of which being the names of her friends.

“Parkinson, Luca!” “Hufflepuff!”

“Towers, Yrene!” “Ravenclaw!”

“Jones, Ress!” “Gryffindor!”

“Lochan, Elide!” “Slytherin!” Aelin began to notice that all the students selected to be in Slytherin were pure blooded, from ancient wizardijg families. This was strange - why weren’t muggles sorted there?? The answer soon came to Aelin, as she remembered the infamous phrase that had been shot at her and her parents when she was younger, simply because they were muggles. Mudblood.

More and more students went up and were sorted, until Aelin found herself at the front of the queue, the only remaining person waiting to be sorted.

“Ashryver Galathynius, Aelin!”

The hall erupted as students whispers and gossiped, stared and gaped. Although far away, Aelin could hear snippets of conversations, catching words like ‘galahynius’, ‘Evalin and Rhoe’, and ‘alive?’

Aelin slowly made her way towards the sorting stool, sitting down and looking outwards. Her eyes caught on the silver-haired boy from earlier, who looked at her with a face of shock, yet with a glimmer in his eyes which suggested that it only made him hate here more.

Aelin looked up to see the sorting hat be lowered towards her head, slowly descending. The hat had not even landed on her head before it started to writhe, suggesting a clear judgement. Aelin looked out once again, locking her gaze on her cousin, looking proudly on her from his place at the Gryffindor table. Suddenly the hat began to squirm even more, still having not touched her head.

“SLYTHERIN!!”

Silence.


	6. Breaking The Mould

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the shock of the sorting ceremony, Aelin has some things to sort out. However not everyone is understanding...

Aelin’s POV - 

Silence. 

Nobody moved or spoke.

Aelin was ushered towards the Slytherin table, all of which were looking at her with disgust in their eyes. A muggle born slytherin?? This just didn’t happen. It had to be a mistake. Everything about slytherin suggested that muggles weren’t welcome and yet here she was sorted. As she crossed over the great hall and walked towards her new house, she caught the eye of a certain blonde-haired Ashryver, who looked at her with a mixture of disappointment and shock. She couldn’t help but feel her heart ache; she was meant to be sat there with Aedion, not going towards a rival house! Nobody expected her to be in Slytherin; everyone she asked said Gryffindor and yet here she was. 

Aelin sat down next to Elide and Lysandra, both of which gaping at her, clearly just as shocked as she was. The headmaster finished his ceremony speech and then the food appeared in front of them, signalling for the great feast to start. 

Aelin sat there in silence as the feast went on, Elide and Lysandra sharing a few scarce words between them. It seemed nobody on their table could quite come to terms with what had just happened, although she knew without looking up that many of her fellow Slytherins were glaring at her. She recalled from what her cousin had told her that not only did muggles not become Slytherin, but Galathyniuses didn’t either. Her father had apparently had a fierce rivalry with some of the Slytherins in his year and there was great hostility between the two parties. She was screwed.

After the feast, the Slytherins were led off towards the dungeons, only for Aedion to barge through the crowd and pull her aside.

“What was that Aelin?!” He yelled. “Slytherin?!You’re meant to be a Gryffindor with me! Muggles don’t become Slytherins, you’ll get picked on. You can’t handle Slytherin, you not-“

“Not what Aedion? Not smart enough? Not good enough? I don’t know why I got sorted into Slytherin of all places but I though you were better than to underestimate me. I don’t always need protecting! I need to go now but know that maybe this is for the best. Maybe I’m different to the rest of our family and maybe Slytherin WILL be where I belong!” Aelin yelled back. “This isn’t your decision and I can’t change anything. Get over it.” With that, she turned on her heel and walked away.

“Rhoe and Evalin would be disappointed in-“

“Don’t. Don’t even finish that sentence.” Aelin snarled at him. 

She ran off towards Lysandra and Elide who had been watching from a distance and followed them down to the Slytherin common room and dormitories, making their way towards the dungeons.y


	7. Prejudiced?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aelin, Elide and Lysandra make their way to the Slytherin common rooms, only to realise that this journey might be tougher for Aelin than once thought...

Aelin’s POV -

Lysandra,Elide and Aelin all followed the rest of the Slytherin first-years down towards the dungeons, Elide and Lysandra keeping Aelin between them and silently comforting her. Aelin didn’t want to be seen crying; she had a feeling that her surrounding peers wouldn’t necessarily be as supportive as she would like. It wasn’t that she thought they were mean or cold-hearted, no she just knew they didn’t understand the situation. Bringing up Aelin’s parents was a low move and she was sure that Aedion knew that, but she couldn’t help wondering if he was right. What if she  was  a disgrace to her family? Never mind, she knew that wasn’t true, she was more worried about whether people would accept her in Slytherin. She was willing to do virtually anything to represent her house well, but she was not willing to become somebody different to do so. She had a sneaking suspicion that some of her fellow Slytherins would have a problem with that. 

The girls continued to walk down to the dungeons, the other first years trudging along beside them, until the finally arrived. They stood outside the entrance to the Slytherin common rooms, only for a tall, muscular boy with dark hair and even darker eyes stepped forwards. Aelin recognised h as one of the boys that had tripped her up and instantly decided she despised him. From the glares on Elide and Lysandra’s faces, she knew they’d made the connection as well. 

“Listen!” The boy growled. The group instantly fell silent, looking up at the boy in front of them, fear shining in their eyes. “You’re all about to enter the Slytherin common room. Before you do I’ll make one thing clear. I don’t care. I don’t care where you wanted to be, or what you thought you were, you’re a Slytherin now and you won’t forget it easily. I don’t care if you aren’t interested in helping our house win both thequidditch and house cup. You will participate. Slytherin is going to be the best house in Hogwarts and you will all aid that cause or so help me god you will not hear the end of it. Apart from that you’re welcome here. You’re first years so know your place and don’t get in my way. My name is Lorcan, not that you need to know.”

Silence filled the room. He really was serious then, it was do or die here. Aelin was already braced for impact, ready to fly in head-first, even though really she should be shaking with fear. 

“Slytherin has not won the house cup for four years now and I will not tolerate that again. We will win, because we are superior, we take only the strongest and we thrive because of it. You’re here because you’re ambitious? Prove it. Fight for it. For all I care, claw your way to the top because we won’t let the other houses come anywhere near us. There is a reason why the pure-blooded families bring about the strongest witches and wizards,” a sneer in Aelin’s direction at this, “and that is exactly what we want from you and what we want in our house.”

Aelin could not believe what this guy was saying. She already knew that as a muggle from a strongly muggle family that she would not be fully welcomed by the rest of her house, but she did not expect her house to be so cold towards people that they believed didn’t fit their standards. She was just as good as them and she was determined to prove it. She knew just as wellas anyone that the only reason why the other Slytherins were intolerant towards muggles was because they feared them and were upset that there were other people who could rival them for power without being from a strong muggle family. She was Abbott to reign down he’ll and the *sshole in front of her was not going to know what had hit him. 

“Now for the password. Although our password does get updated, it tends to flit between the same few words or phrases. If you are entering as a group, only one of you needs to say the password to be granted entry, but on your own, it is your responsibility to know and remember the password, so that you can enter our common room.”

“What’s the password right now?” Asked the tall seedy boy stood at the front asked. 

Lorcan slowly turned round to face Aelin and she realised that whatever was about to come out of his mouth, she was not going to like it. 

And then he said it, the one word that she hated mor than anything, the one word that was going to haunt her for the rest of her life’s the one reason for her parent’s death.She realised that she was going to have a right ride here, and that although she truly was a Slytherin and belonged here, there was a chance that she wouldn’t make it to the end. And she realised that he knew this, as did he know the reason for her parent’s death. 

“Mudblood.”


	8. Bitter Becomings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lorcan pushed Aelin about her heritage, but she is lucky to have such supportive friends around her.

Aelin’s POV - 

Her blood ran cold at the mere mention of that one word. 

CRAP.

THAT was another reason why Slytherins weren’t muggle; there was a ton of prejudice towards those who weren’t from old wizarding families. THAT was another reason why people couldn’t believe Aelin was a Slytherin. THAT was another reason why the boy stood in front of her hated her. Now she was determined to find out the other reasons. 

Soon the first years began to pile into the common room, entering in groups, each group taking it in turns to say the password and walk in whilst Lorcan waited outside and watched. Soon, Aelin and here friends were up next, waking towards the common room entrance only to see Lorcan peel himself off of the wall he was leaning against and walk over to them, a wicked grin adorning his face.

“Alright Galathynius, let’s hear it” he announced loudly, causing a few students nearby to look over.

Aelin took a deep breath and walked up to the entrance. 

“No.” 

“Come on, let’s hear you say it; it got specially changed just for you when we found out you were a Slytherin. You want to be a Slytherin don’t you? This is what gets you in.”

“I’m not saying it”

“You’re not a Slytherin!”

“I said no asshat!” Aelin retorted. “I don’t care what you think of me, I’m not saying it. I don’t have to be horrible to become a Slytherin; I am a Slytherin. I got picked to be in this house for a reason so shut the hell up!”

Lorcan simply smirked and walked right up to where she was standing. Aelin had to admit that whilst the fury and rage coursing through her meant that she was in no way scared of the man before her, she could see why others were. 

He leaned down and whispered in her ear, “ do you think Rhoe and Evalin would be proud of you for this? You weren’t a Gryffindor or a Hufflepuff like they were and now you can’t even say the one word that gets you into your house common room. Pathetic.” Aelin had to hold her hands behind her back to stop herself from throttling him.

“I think deep down you know that you aren’t enough to be a Slytherin. You’re a muggle. We barely have any students here with one muggle parent, but you have two. You’re weak, your too stubborn and you’re clearly not cut out to be in this house so why don’t you run back to the great hall and see if the sorting hat can stick you with your cousin. You know, where you belong” Lorcan sneered.

“Cut it out” Elide snapped from beside Aelin. “We all know that you’re just upset that there’s an Ashryver and Galathynius relative in your house. You’re scared because you know she’s going to be an outstanding witch and completely ruin your image as the strongest Slytherin. Grow up.”

With that Elide looped her arm through Lysandra and Aelin’s and marched towards the entrance, uttering the gods-awful password before slipping in and leading the girls towards their dormitory, leaving a scowling Lorcan in their wake. 

“Don’t worry about the password Aelin, just make sure either Lysandra or I are around and we’ll do it for you. I don’t like saying it either but I can understand why it would be such an affront for you.” With that the 3 girls began to unpack and Aelin wondered what she had done to end up with two supportive friends like Lysandra and Elide.


	9. Lesson Chaos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aelin and friends go to their first lessons!
> 
> \- sorry for the delay; it’s been a busy month. I’m going to try and update more regularly

Aelin’s POV -

The next day, Elide,Lysandra and Aelin all went off to their lessons along with the other the other first-year Slytherins. Aelin found herself loving her lessons; which scared her more than she cared to admit. 

They started off with charms with the Gryffindors, Professor Florine being a strict yet oddly assuring teacher. It was here in which Aelin met Ansel, a first-year Gryffindor with wine red hair and a fiery attitude which rivalled Aelin’s. The two of them caused mayhem in that first lesson secretly enchanting some of their classmates things, making their bags, wands or even robes float, which terrified their friends. Turns out both of them had done some practice before arriving at Hogwarts, and were content to mess with the others. If it had not been for Professor Florine’s clear favour towards them and the fact that they were much more advanced than their classmates, they surely would have had a detention, but it seemed they were lucky. 

Ansel and Aelin were a dangerous combination, as they topped all their classes together, spending any extra time in lesson tormenting their friends. Luckily nobody seemed to particularly mind - in fact their classmates seemed to find their antics funny, which really just egged them on. 

However one lesson that Aelin despised was defence against the dark arts. It was an important lesson and Aelin was excelling in it, like all her other subjects but the issue was her teacher. 

Arrobyn Hamel was arguably one of the most despicable people that Aelin had met, taking genuine pleasure in seeing her and her class squirm. He didn’t seem pleased when Aelin got something right, on the contrary he took 5 points from Slytherin, insisting that she was trying to put down the other members of the class by answering correctly. When members of the class pointed out that they were fine and that they were actually pleased that Aelin was doing well, he took another ten, claiming that she had pressured the others to stick up for them and was clearly making them uncomfortable. 

“Honestly what would you parents say?!” He tutted. “I’m sure they’ll be very disappointed in you for this.”

This stung, and from the glint in his eye, Aelin knew that Hamel was aware of her parents murder several years ago, and took pleasure in watching her relive the last moment. Somebody needed to get him out of the room because if he said anything more, Aelin was sure that she would start throwing hands.

“Murder is still illegal, right?” She whispered to Dorian, who she shared that class with. 

Dorian chuckled, only answering with “I’m pretty sure it is but I’ll help you hide the body if need be.” 

Dorian and Aelin had also got very close, meeting up after their first class and talking about their houses and how excited they were to be there. Dorian was clearly a massive fan of the Ravenclaw house and was loving his classes, just like Aelin. They had bonded further over their life of books, promising to meet up in the library later to pick out some favourites and read them together. This combination, however less scary than Aelin and Ansel, was still powerful, the two of them dominating any class they were in together just like Ansel had done before with her. Aelin was quite confident that there was nobody who was bright than Dorian, who seemed to barely study yet still do tremendously well. Aelin was extremely jealous of this; she’d spent so much time studying over the break and was still only matching him, but she couldn’t say that it upset her too much. Like she’d discovered earlier, she wanted to get good grades, but studies weren’t the only things she cared about.

Dorian also didn’t seem fazed by Aelin’s urge to kill Arrobyn , ending up supporting her decision, and it was only Yrene, Aelin’s other good friend that convinced her that the charges for attacking him were too high for it to be worth it. 

Now, she was leaving her lesson and heading to her last one for the day - flying lessons - and boy, was Aelin’s Hogwarts experience about to change.


	10. Flying Free

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aelin takes her first flying lesson!!

Aelin’s POV - 

Aelin and Dorian waltzed into flying lessons five minutes late, grinning from ear to ear. Their other classmates (Slytherin and Ravenclaw had flying lessons together) looked at them with looks of varying pity, as their professor stormed towards them.

“You’re fifteen minutes late you two! What do you have to say for yourselves??” She continued to yell, seemingly furious that they had turned up after they were meant to. It wasn’t their fault; the restricted section books - I mean normal permitted library books - were very interesting and they had gotten distracted!

Dorian and Aelin simply looked at each other, a flash a panic passing between them before their wide grins were back, this time accompanied by a series of sarcastic, but quite frankly brilliant, remarks from Aelin.

“Oh come on miss, was that all you’ve got?” Aelin remarked cheekily. “You’re a professor, surely you can do better than that; you’ve taught here for years. Whilst we’re on the subject, we aren’t fifteen minutes late, only five. These corridors are hard to navigate aren’t they? Particularly for two first-year stir dents with no map of the castle and no way to know where they are going. Now, to accuse two student of being late, simply because they couldn’t be bothered to turn up on time would be incredibly harsh, wouldn’t it? It’s a god thing that isn’t what you did. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we need to be grabbing ourselves a broomstick each! 

With that, Dorian and Aelin walked off towards the field, joined by Yrene, Lysandra and Elide, all relieved to see their friends in one piece.

—————————

Aelin was so excited for flying. Sure, she loved transfiguration, sure, charms were cool, but flying was something that she was so excited for that she had spent all her time researching different brooms and all of the different rules for quidditch, so that when she watched she could understand what was going on. - Okay, that was a lie. She wanted to sit in the stands and critique Aedion who was on the Gryffindor team, so that she could hug him for centuries afterwards. She had never flown before, as Aedion told her it wasn’t allowed (like he ever stuck to protocol) and that it was best to learn once she arrived. Therefore, she was determined to master it.

Taking her position next to a broom, Aelin listened to her still slightly bewildered professor explain to what they had to do, following her instructions exactly. Soon she and Dorian, the only two who had managed to fly first time were up and off. Much to the chagrin of some of the Ravenclaw who seemed to be jealous of Dorian and wanted to see him fail at something for once. They were wasting their time, thought Aelin. Dorian’s father was determined to make sure he succeeded, teaching him much of the curriculum before school started, placing him at the top of the class, beside Aelin.

Aelin soared higher and higher, twisting and diving on her broom, feeling the wind brush against her face. She loved flying; it was different to anything she had felt before and she felt as if she would never stop. Unfortunately, realising the her classmates had begun to fly down, although a lot more tentatively; Aelin was quite clearly the best in the class by a long way, surpassing Dorian by a great way as well. She landed back on the ground only to receive a round of applause from her friends, Yrene, Elide and Lysandra wrapping her in a bone-crushing hug. 

It was all going to so well. Until, however, they began to leave class, only to hear their teacher call Aelin back. Deciding that it was best not to fight on this one, Aelin left her friends to go back to their common rooms before dinner and walked up to her professor, who simply gestured to the tall white-haired girl stood next to her, smiling faintly. Aelin still wasn’t sure if this was a positive smile or a cruel, pain-relishing one. She supposed she’d find out. 

“Miss Galathynius, meet Manon Blackbeak. I think the two of you need to have a little chat........”


	11. Witches and Snitches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I know it's been a while, but I have recently been working on a bunch of chapters, so they are all going up today! Hopefully you enjoy! I've written about 3 chapters.

Aelin's POV -

Manon and Aelin walked out into the middle of the field towards a large box and two broomsticks.

"What are we doing here?" Aelin asked, only to be met with a stern glare from Manon, who pointed in the direction of a broom and walked off towards the box.

Aelin decided not to question Manon on this one and instead got onto the broom, kicking off of the ground and hovering by Manon.

"Miss tells me that you need more work so I'm here to help you. Judging from your take-off, you'll need all the help I can give you."

Aelin had no response to what Manon had said. Only a few students had managed to even get off of the ground, and it was pretty clear that she was one the best in her class. Whatever this girl was trying to prove, Aelin would show her that she was wrong.

Manon hopped onto a broom and kicked up off of the ground, pulling a large box with her.

"This, as I'm sure you know, is a quidditch box, containing all the balls for the game. We're going to run through them and do a few rough games, so that we can get you up to scratch." Manon said.

"But if your problem is with my flying, then how is practicing the game going to help?" Exclaimed Aelin, only receiving a scowl in return. Well then.

——————

Soon, Aelin and Manon had run through all of the different positions of quidditch, Manon claiming that their class would love onto quidditch next, so teaching her would help her advance do she was at their level. Aelin though - no - knew this was stupid; she was doing fine in flying lessons.

So far she had worked out that out of all the different positions, chaser and seeker were her favourites. As a chaser, she was always where the action was, and as a seeker she could win the match. Although there was a lot of pressure on her as a seeker, Aelin thought that the adrenaline would really add to the fun, keeping her on edge.

As the sun set, a deep, hazy pink fillings eb sky, Manon and Aelin began to fly down, making their way towards the now empty pitch. A few students had walked by at one point, stopping to stare as the two yelled back and forth, flying around through the air. At one point Aelin had caught the quaffel from Manon, resulting in a fit of hisses and sharp-and-as-metal nails. They had then proceeded to chase after each other, snarling viciously, until those snarls and scowls turned into smirks and the occasional laugh. By the end of the session, a friendship had formed between them, two people both fiery and strong, yet overly sarcastic and willing to do anything to achieve their means.

Manon began to pack away the quidditch gear, only to turn around to Aelin with a massive, shit-eating grin on her face.

Here it came.

"Okay, you're on the team."


	12. Teamwork

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second chapter of the day! I hope you enjoy and feel free to comment any issues you have or any other feedback!

Aelin's POV -

"You're on the team."

"WHAT" Aelin exclaimed, "You told me that I was awful; why would you now want me on the team?!"

"That was all a roose. The professor sent someone to pull me out of class earlier, claiming she had someone that would be perfect for the team. We thought it would be best for you to practice unaware of what was at stake, so that I could see you at your best without any added pressure. Although from the looks of it, you seem to deal fine with pressure anyway." Manon explained to Aelin.

"We have one spot available, and as the captain of the Slytherin quidditch, I think you should get it. You'll be playing seeker, so the pressure is really on. People believe seeker is the most important position, but if you have enough points you can win a game, even without catching the snitch. You're going to need to work hard though; Lorcan's not going to be pleased when he hears I've put a first-year on the team instead of one of his pick, but he needs to remember that I'm in charge not him."

"Wait you know Lorcan?" Aelin blurted out. "Never mind, of course you know Lorcan, he's a prefect for our house."

"Yeah. Dark-haired dude with a stick up his ass, always hanging around with is little cadre?"

"That's the one. You guys friends?"

"Nah. The dude hates me because I wouldn't back down like the rest of the third-years when he tried to pick on me, and hasn't let it go since. He's a great player, but he has to get his attitude in check."

"Tell me about it. He has an issue with me because both of my parents were from muggle families. Apparently that make me a mudblood too. My friends don't know this, but he slips notes in my bag every few days, detailing how much he hates me. I think it's meant to intimidate me but honestly I love a good laugh. Whenever he scowls, his right ear moves up and I can't take him seriously because of it."

"I've seen that too!! He looks like some scary guy but his ear just throws the look off for me." Manon cackled.

If Aelin and Ansel were a dangerous pairing, Manon and Aelin were deadly. The two of them continued to talk, coming up with intricate ways to annoy Lorcan, most of which revolving round howlers. Aelin had also met Manon's friends, labelled 'the thirteen' at Hogwarts. They were all very fun, and Aelin got on with Asterin the most, a Hufflepuff who was on the quidditch team and was able to match Aelin for the amount of smack that she spoke.

It had got dark now, and Aelin and Manon continued to chat, packing away all their things before Manon ran after her friends to the great hall for dinner.

It was at this moment, that six figures decided to walk down the path towards the quidditch pitch, watching as Aelin grabbed a broom and zoomed up into the air for a last ride before she too went to the great hall.

She rode around on her new broom which Manon had given her, coming down only to be faced by six tall boys, all bearing a stone cold mask, except the two at the back. One sported a massive grin, like the one Manon had on only minutes before, the other - Gavriel, she thought he was called - looking upon her with a mixture of sympathy and fear.

Lorcan, of course stood near the front of the pack, only behind the same silver-haired boy that had glared at her during the sorting ceremony.

This would be fun.


	13. The Cadre

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just so you know, I'm not going to make Gavriel and Aedion father and son in this book, as I just can't find a way to do it that isn't weird. Hope that's okay! I also couldn't find a fan art of all six of the cadre, so there's only this one, which doesn't have Vaughan. Sorry!

Aelin's POV -

This would be fun.

But - of course - it would be more fun if Aelin decided to mix it up.

"Heyyyyyy. How're you doing?" Aelin grinned. This was going to end badly, but hey - why not make it worse?

"What was witch-face talking to you about?" Lorcan sneered, completely ignoring her previous comment. The blonde boy at the back however, was absolutely howling with laughter. Aelin noted that he had been the one who was grinning beforehand, and had already decided that out of the group, he was her favourite. 

"Manon was talking to me about the quidditch team." Aelin sneered back. However a grin still lit up her face; she'd finally found her match and would certainly enjoy messing with Lorcan.

Suddenly the silver-haired boy at the front broke out into laughter. Not joyous, contagious laughter but cold, cruel laughter. 

"Don't worry about the quidditch team sweetheart, somebody like you would never make the team. How's that working out for you anyway? I can't imagine you'll be in Slytherin long. Don't worry, they'll transfer you soon."

"Damn who hurt you?" Aelin said back, "For a Ravenclaw you don't seem to be very smart. I am a Slytherin and I will remain one. Oh and whilst we're on the subject, Manon was talking to me as I am now on the quidditch team." She finished.

Aelin stood back now, watching smugly as the Lorcan and the silver-haired boy's jaws both clenched, the boys behind them's jaws dropping.

"You can't be on the team. I'm not playing with some filthy mudblood. Besides all the positions are full. You'd have to be good enough to bench somebody and we all know that isn't true." 

Lorcan looked as if he was five, about to throw the biggest temper tantrum the world had ever seen. 

"Oh please, they'll have stuck her on the bench if anything. Don't want her getting in the way and messing up your shots with the quaffel", the boy exclaimed. "She didn't even name her position; Manon's clearly just doing it to make her feel better."

"She'll be out in a week." Another boy said.

"Nah five days" said another.

"Well I think she's going to be on the field playing," the blonde boy said, a grin still adorning his face. Was it broken that way? Did he even frown?? It wasn't a problem and Aelin was happy that he was happy, but compared to these miserable people she couldn't see it working out. 

"Did she even give you a position? Or did Manon straight-out tell you that you were on the bench?"

"Actually she did tell me what position I'm playing." 

"Well?" Lorcan said expectantly.

"Chaser" Aelin replied confidently.

The blonde boy once again broke down laughing, as Lorcan's scowl got even worse.

"Great. You'll be playing alongside me."


	14. Roaring Rivalries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aelin finds herself trying to learn more about the mysterious six boys that keep on interfering with her life.

Aelin's POV -

"Great, you'll be playing with me" Lorcan sulked.

"I know, Manon told me" Aelin smirked back. 

Lorcan may have been at a loss for words, but the boy with silver hair next to him certainly had enough to say. 

"Well Lorcan, it seems it will be even easier this year to beat the Slytherin house this year. I'm not sure I should even bother trying with this one on the team" he sneered.

Wow this dude really was cruel. Was he just insecure about his own quidditch skills or was he genuinely this big-headed? Maybe it was a front. Surely nobody was this much of a jerk naturally. 

"Shut up Ro" Lorcan jeered back, clearly aggravated. "It's fine, I'll talk to the witch, get her benched and we'll crush you this season regardless."

Ro. So that was his name. Or at least part of it. Aelin couldnt believe she was still here, she should have left ages ago. She didn't have time for these guys.

Surveying the group again, she noticed that one of the boys in the group looked exactly like the blond-haired lad that was grinning, only with dark hair and a blank face. Twins then, but from the looks of it, very different people. The other two boys were stood right at the back of the group, both watching with slight sympathy. What was going to happen to her that made them so worried. 

"Checking us out already? Don't bother, you're not in our league" the silver-haired boy, 'Ro', spoke up again. 

"Oh shut up." Aelin said. "Like I'd ever be interested in you; you look like the kind of person who takes their Christmas decorations on the 26th of December, because you believe the holiday is over. I can't imagine going after somebody so full of himself anyway." 

At this, both twins began to laugh, this time not able to hold back at all. The silver-haired boy simply glared, matching Lorcan's already dark face. Deciding she'd had enough already, Aelin simply strode off towards the castle, ready to eat and get away from the six third-year students that were so set on making her life difficult.

But this was Aelin, and she wasn't going to just leave peacefully, so made her way down the path back to Hogwarts and off of the grounds, casually flipping the boys off as she left.

-———— (Back at Hogwarts) ———————

Finally Aelin got back inside the castle, making her way straight to the Great Hall, just in time for tea. She had learnt that people were meant to keep to their house table in the first day of her being at Hogwarts, however this was often not the case. In fact, Aelin and her friends had chosen to keep to the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables, sitting in between the two table to talk, as most of their friends were concentrated in those two houses. In order to stop themselves from getting in trouble with the teachers, Elide, Lysandra and Aelin would sit on the Slytherin table, turning around to talk to Yrene, Dorian and Ansel, who wasn't a Ravenclaw (and was in fact a Gryffindor) but risked it and snuck over anyways. Their group had since expanded, accommodating Chaol Westfall, a second-year Ravenclaw student, who was clearly making heart-eyes at Dorian the whole time, unfortunately picking one of the most clueless people in the world to crush over. They also took in Luca and Ress (both from Hufflepuff who also snuck over to join them) and Nesryn, a second-year Gryffindor. Their group was very close, taking fun in mocking their professors and each other, as well as learning things about other students from Nesryn and Chaol, seeing as they had been there for a year already. Chaol and Aelin had started off on rocky(ish) terms, as Chaol was not happy as to how quickly she caught onto his secret liking of Dorian, although they later on became closer, after she assured to not tell him. Nesryn and Aelin were also good friends, just naturally getting along and understanding each other. 

Manon's group of friends (the thirteen) on the other hand, blatantly disrespected the rules, all converging at the end of the Slytherin table talking. None of the teachers ever took issue with this however, as they seemed to be too intimidated by them. Rumours were that they were a gang, although Aelin doubted that. Manon had told her that they remained closed off simply because they didn't like other people, which Aelin related to in many ways. They weren't secretive, they were done with everyone else's crap.

After talking to the Thirteen and receiving many congratulations, Aelin made her way over to her friends, smirking as their jaws all dropped, after watching her be warmly received by the seemingly impenetrable group that was Manon and her friends.

They were even more shocked however, to find out that she had made the quidditch team, also by accident, in her first year of being at the school. Chaol and Nesryn were both on their house's teams, but were often benched as they were new. For Aelin to be given a promising (and seemingly permenant) spot on the field itself was and accomplishment all on it own.

"You're a what?!" Dorian yelled for what felt like the fifth time.

"We've been over this Dorian, I'm a chaser" Aelin replied, inches away from simply slamming her head on the desk with frustration. She was shocked too but a little confidence in her would be nice! 

"I'm so proud of you!"

"We are so watching you"

"I've already got ideas for a banner"

"This will be so embarrassing; I'm so ready"

All of her friends continued to make embarrassing comments as they contemplated how to thoroughly ruin her first match (although joking really) and she sat back, watching them squabble over the best slogans for posters. She was lucky to have them all.

At that moment, the six boys from earlier entered the great hall, positioning themselves on the opposite end of the Slytherin bench, they too (like the thirteen) blatantly disregarding the rules. Aelin took it upon herself in this moment to watch them, just as half the hall she noticed, were also doing. They seemed to be insanely popular here, for reasons unknown to her, with even the older years looking in in jealousy. Some strident looked annoyed or envious, but most looked at them as if the sun shone out of them, and that anything that they did could be considered perfect. 

Aelin decided to nudge Manon at this moment, avoiding her friends questioning looks as she finally took interest in who these six assholes in front of her were.

"They are the most popular boys in school A," Manon explained. 

"Some see them as dangerous, but mainly it's because they are all good at everything that they do, as well as insanely cocky about it. For some reason, nobody is put off by this cockiness and still seems to think that they are amazing." Manon rolled her eyes, clearly not a fan of them.

"Let me walk you through them. They call themselves the Cadre and they are always with at least other member of their group. They never split completely; they're like a unit. They used to be in contact with professor Maeve a lot too, but they stopped last year as whatever sketchy business they were doing stopped. She held them all to some kind of promise, but now that's all seemingly over and they don't communicate with her. They don't talk about it either. They remain the most popular people at Hogwarts for specific reasons each." Aelin was intrigued, although pleased to know that her dubbing them 'the Cadre' was in fact correct. 

"You already know Lorcan so let's start there. Lorcan is a massive sports fan. He plays quidditch and is good, good enough that I can't kick him off the team sadly. All the guys in the school are jealous of this, and the attention it attracts. However he acts like a complete ass to anyone that isn't in the cadre, so there's no point in trying to talk to him. 

Next is Gavriel, the one with dirty blond hair. Not the blonde twin, but the one next to him. Gavriel is the kindest, more empathetic than the rest, and the only one you could hold a conversation with, although being apart of the cadre, you could never get him alone. He's very mysterious and nobody knows much about him, although he has been known to talk with your cousin once or twice, however, form the looks of things Aedion is not in the Cadre. They don't accept new members. It's not a club, it's a friendship and those six are incapable of caring for anyone other than each other.

Next is Vaughan. Also mysterious, Vaughan is the one of the quietest. Him and Connall are going out, but nobody knows anything about it. He's said to be quite funny. There's not much else to say about him really, like I said, he's very quiet.

Now the twins, Connall and Fenrys. Connall, like I said, is going out with Vaughan, and is the dark haired twin. He is quiet too, but occasionally will speak up. He's very close with his twin, however they are very different people. Fenrys has blonde hair and is easily the most sociable one do the group. He is a complete player though and seems to get with different girls each week, although seemingly not doing anything more than kissing, which confuses a lot of people. He's very popular for his fun personality and everybody likes him. Again, people know nothing about his life, however his energy makes people feel like they know him. 

And lastly we have Rowan Whitethorn. With silver hair, Rowan is the leader of the cadre and the most closed off of them all. He keeps everything about him secret, so nobody knows anything, and nobody has ever really seen him let down his guard. He hates everyone except his friends and takes a new girl every week like Fenrys and Lorcan. He's the harshest out of all of them, which is hard to believe standing next to Lorcan, and isn't nice to anyone. He's also incredibly smart, at the top of his class, and can also play quidditch. As the Ravenclaw keeper, he makes everyone's life increasingly difficult when it comes to scoring. He's considered to be the 'bad boy' of the school, but that's a load of crap; he just hates everyone and can't put up with others, just like me and the thirteen. Stay away from him Aelin; he'll make your life hell for no reason other than his own amusement."

It seemed that the universe was not on her side however, as she turned to see Rowan already glaring at her with a newfound passion burning in his eyes. 

His bright, shining green eyes.


	15. Unhelpful Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rowan snaps at Aelin when confronting her and brings up a few memories from Aelin’s past that she has tried to forget.
> 
> For the sake of the story try to imagine Hogwarts as like a high school, starting at 16. It just doesn’t make sense for some characters to be 11 years old.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings ⚠️: 
> 
> -Anxiety attacks (not too graphic and kept to a minimum)  
> -Death  
> -Hatred
> 
> It shouldn't be too bad, but I just wanted to warn any readers. Most of it is reflection on a few bad times in the protagonist's life. All purely fictional. I hope you enjoy!

Aelin's POV - 

His bright, green eyes.

It took Aelin a second to process the fact that Rowan Whitethorn was staring at her, with more fury than she had ever seen in anyone. She knew she had a talent for annoying people, but she genuinely could think of anything that she had done wrong. She actually hadn't done anything to him!

Lost in her own train of thought, Aelin began to absentmindedly leave the hall, muttering 'I'll see you later' to her friends and making to leave, only to find the same angry silver-haired boy in front of her, still glaring. Slowly she took a seat, him doing the same. They sat there in silence for a few minutes, her blankly watching, him scowling, the Hufflepuff's sat at the end of the table they were at watching on with a mixture of awe and nerves displayed on their faces.

Eventually, Aelin broke the silence. 

"Hey....... how're you doing?" She grinned. If he was already this mad, surely he'd reached his limit and making him more angry would have no add-on effect. Besides, it was what Aelin did.

"God, do you ever stop?" He growled. "That's not how this conversation is going to go. Get over yourself." Clearly, he had not reached his limit.

"Well how is this conversation going to go then?"

"You're going to sit here and listen whilst I explain a few things to you."

Aelin simply gestures for him to continue, a mocking smile on her face which only made his glare deepen.

"This isn't funny. You're not meant to be here. We've already got one Ashryver and we don't need another. Much less a Galathynius. You shouldn't be in Slytherin let alone on the quidditch team, so I'd advise you to go talk and shifted into Gryffindor so your cousin can protect you or better yet leave. You're not wanted."

That would hurt any normal person severely but, as discovered, Aelin was not a normal person. So she sat back and grinned.

"I'm sorry that being an Ashryver and a Galathynius upsets you so much but I'm not leaving or changing houses. Any more requests??"

Rowan snarled, almost animal-like. "Look I don't care what you say. I hate you. Nobody wants you. You'd be better off dead with your parents; it's a shame nobody finished the job earlier. You're not going to last in the wizard world; look at your mum and dad, they didn't. Why do you think you'll make it? I'd give up now, everyone can see that Hogwarts is as far as you'll ever go. Your friends can see this is as far as you'll ever go."

No words. Aelin had no words to sum up the hatred running through her veins as she slapped Rowan across the face before walking out of the room. She couldn't face what he'd said.

'You're better off dead'

'It's a shame nobody finished you off earlier'

'Nobody wants you'

'I'd give up now'

'You're better off dead'

'You're better off dead'

'Better dead'

'Dead'

She couldn't breathe properly, her heart rate had soared. It was all coming back to her, memories of walking into her parents bedroom, their bodies lying there cold. Together and yet apart. Seeing her dad's ring gone, her mother's necklace as well. Pieces they swore never to take off. 

She turned the corner and sprinted to the owlery, grabbing a piece of parchment and ink and beginning to write. 

Mum and Dad,

Or should I call you Evalin and Rhoe. I feel distant from you now. I know that time will distance us naturally although I wish it wouldn't, but I feel as if I've been pulled hundreds of metres away from you. I can't do this, it's not the same. It's been ten years and I still can't process everything that's happened. You made a mistake. A failure. I shouldn't be here when I could have been lying in that bed alongside you instead of out with my friends. I should have died with you. Or,I should have been fighting to keep you in this world, because you're lives made more of an impact to wizards and muggles alike than mine ever will. The people here are right, I shouldn't be here. I keep on waking up even now, waiting to hear you but you're never there. You can't leave me here. I lost you and I lost Sam and there is nobody left on this Earth that still cares enough about my existence for it to even be worth it. If I hadn't been born then maybe you wouldn't have moved houses, maybe you wouldn't have become so popular, maybe you wouldn't have fought such controversial cases so that I could be free and respected as the daughter of two parents from muggle families. Maybe if someone else was here instead of me they could have caught your killer, not broke down and surrendered instead of finding them like I did. 

I'm lost mum and dad, and I don't know the way back home.

Your daughter,

Aelin. 

—

Aelin tied her letter to her owl Merlin’s foot and sent him off. It made no difference. Her parents had been dead for years and the letter had no address, dropped somewhere around the country for someone to pick up and throw in a bin. But it felt better getting her thoughts out.

Aelin’s anxiety had always been hard to deal with, but her losing Sam had made it ten times harder. She didn’t know how Rowan knew her. How he knew her story so well. If she had disliked him before, she hated him now. But the majority of her hate stemmed from true fear. How much did he know? And why was he able to trigger her anxiety once again? Why was he the person that could make time stop, and her hands shake and her head fill with terrible thoughts and memories. 

And why did the words “I hate you” hurt more when they came from his mouth??

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating in a while!!


	16. Bringing You Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will include a few different POV's, just because I want to expand a bit and see a few different perspectives. Tell me if you like this or if you want to go back to just Aelin! I hope you enjoy! ❤️❤️
> 
> ⚠️ - Mild swearing

Lysandra's POV -

Something was wrong. Lysandra could tell that something was wrong the second Aelin left the room.

We'll obviously, she ran out of the room nearly crying. How stupid can you be honestly? Her subconscious said. Lysandra hated her subconscious - it was a part of her and yet she still found herself thinking 'how stuck up and arrogant can a person be?' whenever she heard it.

Lysandra and Aelin had only known each other for a week or two now, but it was pretty clear that the two were attached for life now. It wasn't something that either of them cared to explain, but they clearly both understood something about the other, and had clearly both experienced something similar which gave them a common ground. It was just that neither of them wanted to find out what was that common ground.

-

Lysandra had gotten up out of her seat within a minute of Aelin not coming back, giving her deadliest glare to the son of a bitc- she meant gun - that had undoubtedly caused some sort of upset, before racing after her. She saw the edge of a robe dash up the stairs, following and searching all the rooms nearby until she stepped into the owlery, and what she saw made her heart break.

There sat Aelin, hunched over and sat against the wall, her face pale. By her sides, her hands shook ferociously, her feet tapping as well, anything to overcome the sheer wall of nerves pummelling through her body.

Lysandra didn't say anything, sitting down next to her and wrapping Aelin into a hug, trying to stop the never-ending tapping beat of Aelin's hands, as she shook them anxiously.

"Whatever he said you need to block out. Remind yourself, he doesn't know you, he doesn't care to know you, and he hasn't taken the time to get to know you. Any evaluation or judgement is based upon false knowledge; none of it will be true."

It was at that moment that Aelin fully broke, finally releasing her tears and sobbing into Lysandra, her face already glowing a deep pink.

"But he was right, Lys, I killed them, I killed my parents. If I had just stuck around long enough or stayed with them then I could have defended them, or at least died alongside them. It would be better for everyone else if I had." Aelin gasped out, her eyes full of a sadness.

Blank.

That was all Lysandra felt, before an endless wave of pure, blissful rage seeped into her bones.

"He said what." Lysandra said calmly. Too calm.

Aelin didn't answer.

"What did he say, Aelin?"

Still no answer.

"Aelin" Lysandra spoke softly.

"He said 'you'd be better off if you were dead with your parents. It's a shame somebody didn't finish the job' and he's right Lys, life would be better for him and everyone else if I was gone" she sobbed.

Lysandra's heart shattered.

Hearing her friend confess this to her filled her with sorrow, as well as adding to the boiling pit of fury that coursed through her bones and left her trembling. But Aelin wasn't done.

"I thought I could handle it. It's been almost ten years since their murder and I was just about coping, but then Sam died and-"

"Sam? As in Sam Cartland??" Lysandra cut Aelin off.

"Yeah. How did you know him?? Aelin replied.

Lysandra took a deep breath.

"I got taken in by a lady called Madam Clarisse when I was about 6 and turned into a courtesan for her until I could pay off my debts. I met Sam because he worked for a man called Arrobyn Hamel who was friends with Clarisse, so we bonded over the fact that we were both stuck in similar situations, counting down the days until we got out. I paid off my debts about a year ago, along with a little girl who I took in named Evangeline, but Sam still had more to pay off. He died?!" Lysandra was on the verge of tears.

Aelin looked back in shock. Finally, somebody else who understood.

She replied. "Lys, I also worked for Arrobyn. That's where I met Sam. After my parents death, he took me in, well threatened to turn me into the people who killed my parents, who he somehow knew but refused to tell me of for his own delight, so I was also raised like Sam. We worked for him together, being forced to create havoc and harm those that he and his clients wanted us to. We fell in love eventually and it was everything. We were young, but there was something different and special about our bond that I'll never forget."

"And yes, he died. We had one last client to work for before we were done so we did it together. I went first and completed mine and then he went. But he didn't come back. He was killed by Arrobyn and there was nothing I could do; I watched Arrobyn burn all the evidence right in front of my eyes. He then blackmailed me and showed me the fake evidence he had to frame me for his crime if I tried to report him. So I was able to leave, having paid off my debts and gaining my freedom and yet losing something far greater in return. He helped me process my parents deaths, but now with him gone, it's like it's all coming back again."

Lysandra stayed silent for a moment. It felt nice to have somebody who also had to up through Arrobyn and his crap, but at the same time, she couldn't believe what Aelin had gone through. She also couldn't believe what Rowan had said to her. She was going to kill him for that. Okay, maybe not, he was very intimidating, but she certainly wasn't going to put up with him and his bullshit.

"The worst part though, was that Arrobyn told me the exact same thing; that I'd be better off dead with my parents, and that he wouldn't have killed Sam if it wasn't for me. It was my fault and this was just yet another reminder. I could have stopped it. But he was the one to die and I was left with my meaningless life!" Aelin broke down in Lysandra's arms once again, clutching into her like a life-line.

"You're not going to listen to what he says, Aelin. He's an arrogant bastard who doesn't know when he's gone too far. You didn't kill either of your parents, nor Sam. You never pulled out the knife and it was not your fault. Arrobyn was manipulative and we both know it, so block him out and focus on the fact that you are surrounded by great friends and teachers who will support you wherever you go. Rowan's words mean nothing."

"But for some reason it did mean something. He said he hated me and it stung more than it should have."

"We'll all of your friends love you and their word means 10x more. I love you. Your parents love you."

Aelin talked about what happened for a while more, and eventually Lysandra was able to coax Aelin back from the Owlery to her dorm, letting her sleep early. Then she found Elide and (with Aelin's permission) told her about what had happened. Luckily for her, Elide had a similar reaction.

-

Elide and Lysandra climbed the stairs of the Ravenclaw tower, ignoring the stares they got from other pupils, their Slytherin robes flowing behind them. They quickly entered the Ravenclaw common room, easily answering the riddle (Elide and Lysandra were too smart for their own good) before climbing the stairs to the boys dormitories, and opening the door into the 3rd year boys' room. Inside was Rowan and the rest of his gang, no other Ravenclaws there. They had a sneaking suspicion that Rowan and Vaughan (the Ravenclaws of the group) had this room all to themselves and didn't have to share.

The cadre as they were nicknamed looked up at the two girls in surprise, Rowan and Lorcan scowling, Connall and Vaughan looking cautious, Gavriel confused, and Fenrys? - Well Fenrys was sporting the biggest grin ever seen as he recognised the look on their faces and realised that shit was about to go down.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank You For Reading!!


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